Dougie Lampkin's torrid indoor season continued tonight in Barcelona, when he finished in a lowly sixth place. Lampkin's evening got off to a bad start with a five on the first step of the first section, a theme that was to continue pretty much throughout the remaining hazards to leave him with no chance of making it into the final.
Although only having managed limited practice during the week, as he continues to recover from his rib injury, Dougie did not want to use his current condition as any excuse for his performance tonight. "It has been a disaster from start to finish tonight, which is a big disappointment as it is an important trial both for me and the team. I was really looking for a good showing, as this is one of the biggest rounds in the calendar."
Lampkin continued. "The injury is not the reason for the bad result, it was simply just bad riding from the first moment, right through to the end. I came here feeling confident despite still being a bit sore, as last week in Milan I rode well and was unlucky not to qualify. Even though I only rode for a short time this week I still felt that I was riding well enough to get a reasonable result tonight."
Riding with safety in mind to protect his injured rib, Dougie suffered another nasty crash mid way through the lap, the resulting fall ending in cuts and bruising to his upper leg. "I thought I was playing it safe by going at the step at an angle, but in the end I ended up crashing heavier than if I had attacked it straight on. The leg is a bit sore due to the swelling at the moment, but I don't think it is going to be a major problem."
Not for the first time this season, Raga, Cabestany and Bou made it an all Spanish affair in the final, the home trio only really being challenged by a hard charging Fujinami. Whilst the heat had been a closely fought contest, Bou was simply in a class of his own in the final to record his second victory of the series. Cabestany took second place ahead of Raga to keep the championship very much alive.
Attendance: 10,000.
Results:
Final
- 1: Bou - 9
- 2: Cabestany - 23
- 3: Raga - 25
Heat;
Qualifiers:
- 1: Adam Raga (SPA-Gas Gas) - 6 (faster time)
- 2: Albert Cabestany (SPA-Sherco) - 6
- 3: Antonio Bou (SPA-Beta) - 11
Non Qualifiers;
- 4: Takahisa Fujinami (JPN-Montesa-HRC) - 15
- 5: Jeroni Fajardo (SPA-Gas Gas) - 20
- 6: Dougie Lampkin (GBR-Montesa-HRC) - 26
- 7: Shaun Morris (GBR-Gas Gas) - 31
Current championship standings:
- 1: Raga - 44
- 2: Cabestany - 38
- 3: Bou - 35
- 4: Fajardo - 28
- 5: Fujinami - 25
- 6: Lampkin - 19
Dougie Lampkin's next event: 10/02/06 Friday - Belfast, Ireland - Rnd 6 World Indoor Chp.
